Heaven Knows
by Yugao
Summary: A passionate scholar. A renegade wizard. A skilled huntress. A mysterious prince. A fairy in need. All the elements of an epic fantasy.
1. When There's Imagination

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Summary: _**A passionate scholar. A renegade wizard. A skilled huntress. A mysterious prince. A fairy in need. All the elements of an epic fantasy.

**_Author's Note: _**Started something new, which means I'll probably delete one of my other chaptered stories so that I could keep this one up. I'm really excited about this one, so don't expect me to drop it. Pairings? HwoarangAsuka, JinJulia and others.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken. And I don't own the song that inspired this, "Heaven Knows" by Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings_

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Prologue… When There's Imagination**_

Asuka yawned and leaned back against the computer chair. Her printer whizzed and buzzed as it finished the last few pages of her project. Her brown eyes traveled to the lower right corner of the screen, and saw that it was just past midnight.

She smiled a little. She'd been working on the project for months in the hopes of getting a good grade. Now it was finished, and she would pass it in tomorrow.

_Make that a few hours from now, _she thought as she remembered what time it was. She looked out the window by the computer table, and saw that outside the sky was pitch black. The moon was wan and the stars weakly shining.

Mr. Fujiwara had, at the beginning of the school year, asked everyone in the creative writing class to begin their "novels" to be submitted at the end of the year. It didn't matter what it was about, only that they make it personal, close to their hearts. In fact, he even requested that all the names used in the story would be names of real people, so that they would find it easier to characterize them.

And Asuka followed the instructions to the letter.

She stood and picked up the pile of bond paper, making sure they were in order. When she was contented with it, she bound them in a blue cardboard folder, with the title _Heaven Knows _on top.

With that, she entered her bedroom and collapsed on her bed, asleep.

* * *

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" 

When she'd fallen asleep she'd forgotten to set her alarm, making her snooze half an hour more than she would have wanted to. Asuka pedaled on her bike quickly, almost haphazardly, her novel safely tucked inside.

Luckily for her, she arrived just in time to pass in her work.

Mr. Fujiwara, a tall, gaunt man, smiled at her. "I'm expecting a lot from you, Miss Kazama."

"I did my best. I hope you won't be disappointed."

He grinned as he took the folder from her. "I hope so, too."

* * *

She could remember that first few days of writing, sitting in front of the computer. What was in her life that was worth writing about, anyway? The only thing on her mind right now was the tournament, avenging her father… 

The tournament!

Asuka smiled. As if inspired, she began to write.

She wasn't going to simply narrate it, no. That would require no imagination at all, and then it would be easier to just borrow the fifth Iron Fist documents from the Mishima library. She had something else in mind.

Something magical.

Something mystical.

Fantasy.

**_Author's Note: _**That's it for now, but the next chapters will be much longer than this. Please review…


	2. Open Doors

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**Thanks for reading or reviewing the prologue (though it didn't really contain much, I really shouldn't have waited a few days before posting this.) From here until the last chapter (except the epilogue) you'll be reading Asuka's story. Anyway, please review!

Also… let me reiterate. The pairings are HwoarangAsuka and JinJulia, and possibly SteveChristie if I can stick another side pairing in. I will not change these pairings because someone begged me to.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Chapter 1… Open Doors**_

The skies were a bright blue, the kind that naturally brought a smile to your face. Birds flew up over the Cirith Academy, a noble pearl-white edifice. At first glance the towers, the arc-shaped windows decorated with stained glass, and the high, opalescent gates made the whole place seemed no more than a fancy piece of jewelry, but it was known for teaching the greatest minds in all of Arinthea.

Asuka dreamed to someday be one of them.

The girl looked wistfully up at the sky, her chin resting on her propped-up leg. Her brown hair was short, barely even reaching her shoulders, and her earth-colored eyes betrayed the wonder and childlikeness about her. And yet, she wore the black-and-white robe given to all of the academy's scholars.

She finally stood, knowing that it would soon be time to leave the Cirith Academy for good. When she first entered the school, she thought that seven years would never come to pass, but they had. Dearly she wished she could still stay, but life had to go on.

Tomorrow, she would have to gather her things and make her way back home. Her father, a high priest, would be waiting for her.

She reminisced her home back at the temple, with its homey sun-baked colors and the roof that waved ever so slightly. She remembered the courtyard, where she and her father had so often practiced their fighting skills. And she remembered her father, too – the gentle, perpetually smiling man whose whole life was the epitome of prayer, love, and dedication.

And tomorrow she would be on her way to see him again.

She smiled at the thought. But tonight, she and many other seventeen-year-olds were to be the guests of honor at the Ceremony of Flight.

She'd seen the ceremonies before – it was when the Masters thanked the scholars who were to leave, and gave them their blessing for the future. Each year, there was something new, and something beautiful, added to the ceremony, so that every one would be memorable.

She knew this one would be.

She walked back to the stern marble halls of the Cirith Academy, and thanked them for sheltering her the past seven years. They had given her something irreplaceable – dear memories that she would never forget.

* * *

The Grand Hall that night was decorated with the finest white silk draped over the large windows, and sprigs of a colorful plant attached to it made Asuka remember the gardens, the beautiful gardens of Cirith where she had for so long walked and thought and remembered… 

The students, both those finished with their studies and otherwise, sat at the sides of the marvelous hall, saying their goodbyes to their best friends and saying their apologies to those they've wronged. Asuka sat in silence, though, still thinking about what she would leave behind in the academy.

"My children," the Headmaster silenced everyone in the room with two words. "Tonight, we say goodbye to another batch of promising young minds. What they make of their own future is in their hands, but we are glad we the Masters were here to be able to teach them. But now, you are on your own. You walk your own path, and may you have the discernment to choose rightly."

Beside the Headmaster was a large structure, somewhat like a box, covered with a sheet of velvet. He uncovered it now, and revealed a cage full of doves struggling to be free. Ceremoniously he unlocked the door slowly, and opened it.

It was a blaze of white as the doves flew out the cage door and out the main doors which had been left open. The Headmaster smiled at their amazement. "May you, like the doves, be free from whatever binds you. You have my blessing."

Then, the new scholars lined up to speak to the Headmaster and claim Cirith's emblem, the symbol of a true scholar of the academy. Asuka waited patiently in line, not in any hurry at all to have any reason to pack up and leave.

When finally her turn came, she bowed cordially before her beloved mentor. "Thank you so much, Headmaster. I learned so much here in the Academy."

He smiled, and it was familiar and winsome. "Asuka… I love you as I would a daughter. Take care of yourself. May the hand of the Creator guide you."

As he said his blessing, he placed in her hand an opal, in the shape of a star – the emblem of the Cirith Academy. She bowed again and thanked him profusely, and slowly made her way up the back stairs and into her dormitory.

* * *

Since she would be walking all the way back to the temple, Asuka wanted to travel light. She sold most of her books to a woman whose daughter was to begin studying at the Academy the next year, except a few – like _A Star in the Pond, _a book of prophecy, and others that she read over and over and never tired of. 

As for her clothes, she didn't worry – she only had four sets of robes and two pairs of shoes. She'd already sneaked some food from the kitchens, and filled her water-skin. When she finished packing, she realized all her belongings, including her food and drink, fit into two large packs.

Sighing, she set down the two leather packs at the foot of the bed. She was tired, and wanted sleep more than anything else. Pulling back the covers, she lay down on the bed and tried to drift off to a peaceful sleep.

She didn't have any such luck.

Down in the Grand Hall, which was the room beneath hers, a farewell party was only just beginning. Loud music and almost drunken singing accompanied it.

That was one thing she wouldn't miss about the academy.

Many of those sent to the academy were rich – in fact, only a few years ago the exiled prince himself had finished his schooling, and that was the very year he was banished by Emperor Heihachi, the ruler of all Arinthea. Anyway, the richer students not only looked down on Asuka, they hated her, called her a know-it-all who was always looking for a fight.

She turned over in her bed. She didn't want her last night in Cirith Academy to be filled with thoughts of hatred.

But how can she help it? They wouldn't let her sleep.

She turned on the oil lamp at her bedside, and took from her pack _A Star in the Pond. _It was a thick, leather-bound book with a bluish-green cover, clasped closed by a gold lock. She sat up, and took off the leather thong that hung around her neck. The little pendant was the key to the book, and she opened it now.

She was always fascinated and yet vexed by prophecy; she thought it both beautiful and strange at the same time. It was magic to foresee what the future shrouded in mystery, and magic even greater to understand its message. She flipped the pages to the centerfold, to the prophecy she always read, always tried to decode.

_A tangle of kings and peasants alike will bring together the taint trapped within purity, and the star in the pond. The star's touch will release the evil; the taint's touch will contain it. If the demons are released peace will reign eternal; if they are contained kings will fall one by one under the hand of the demons that lurk within the spirit._

"A tangle of kings and peasants alike…" she murmured, "Like, a rally or something? A plot to dethrone the emperor?"

She thought of Heihachi's Empire, and knew that any civil unrest would immediately be stamped out by his Elite Guard. Somehow, no matter how many times she read and reread the prophecy, she never got it quite right.

Prophecy was always like this – vague.

She leaned back against the pillow propped up against the headboard, noticing that the noise had quieted down. _Perhaps the Headmaster's doings, _she thought with a grin as she slipped her book back into her pack and turned off the oil lamp. She lay her head back down on her pillow and finally, gratefully, fell asleep.

* * *

The broadsword cut through the air with devastating speed, slamming the man onto the ground. There was a chink in his black armor, a dent from where his enemy had hit him. The sword whizzed again, this time below the knees so that it knocked him off his feet. 

The man who wielded the broadsword straightened to a defensive position, his weapon in a high guard to deflect any sneak attacks. It was night, after all – and these members of the Elite Guard were specially trained to remain unseen and unfelt in the evenings, when they silently killed.

He sidestepped an uppercut, slashing his enemy a little more forcefully than was needed, but he could never afford to take any chances. His opponent fell to the ground, and the bittersweet smell of death filled the air.

Jin picked up his fallen enemy and brought him deep into the forests, and there left him. He couldn't afford anyone to pick up his tracks, especially not those that hunted him.

He adjusted his black metal armor as he headed off into the opposite direction, careful to cover his tracks.

Wryly he smiled as he hurried away. Not two years ago he was the grandson of the beloved Emperor Heihachi, son of the betrayer Kazuya, and the heir apparent to the throne of Arinthea. In a matter of two years he had turned from the well-loved and respected prince to the seeming turncoat who walked in his father's footsteps.

In truth, it was the Emperor who tried to destroy him, kill him in cold blood.

"_Goodbye, young prince."_

_He turned just in time to see the iron sword lifted high above his grandfather's head, and rolled away quickly. As if his anger had sparked another life in him, his mind reeled with lost self-control. Black wings sprouted from his back painfully, and intricate patterns burned on his bare skin. He felt himself fly, break through the ceiling of the Palace, and never return again._

_It was only then that he understood why his father had been viewed as a monster – and that he, too, may very well be one._

He clenched his fist as the thought entered his mind. He would never allow that to happen.

* * *

From atop the sturdy branches of the cypress, Julia watched the man leave. She had been following him for quite a while, mostly at night when she wouldn't be easily seen. A seasoned huntress, she knew how to remain undetected when the need was great. 

He had killed someone.

She knew because she had watched him, tailed him and found the dead body, still wet and matted with fresh blood. When he left, she had taken a closer look, and found the lightning sigil on the dead man's armor. Clearly her prey was against the empire of the almighty Heihachi.

She, too, had reasons for hating the old man. Though many of his subjects saw only the side of him that was a caring, protective ruler who won their battles and kept them safe, she knew otherwise. Born in a distant land and brought to Arinthea by her mother Michelle, she had once so fondly viewed the beautiful country as the realm of peace.

That was before her mother was taken.

Michelle was a Priestess of War, and being so she was learned in the fight as well as in magic. Because she held artifacts that were instrumental in the Emperor's plot to attain the much-coveted eternal life, she had been taken, but Heihachi had not succeeded.

She was naturally gifted with a fighting spirit, and did not break under the mighty hand of the Emperor. She escaped, with Julia's help, and they went to live in the far-flung mountains of Arinthea.

Usually she didn't sneak out like this, but the man was terrifyingly close to her home. Julia had, since her mother was abducted, vowed to keep her safe at all costs. The man, as far as she was concerned, was a threat. It didn't matter that the man he killed was an agent of Heihachi – he had killed someone, and that someone was trained to kill. He was no pushover, and yet he was killed.

Yes. Definitely a threat.

A falcon, a bird of prey, swooped down from the sky to alight on the branch she stood on. She nodded to it as she pulled out a scrap of paper from her pocket and scribbled a quick message on it: _Mother, there is a man headed towards home. He may reach you before I take him down. Be ready. _Contented with it, she slipped it in the small, magical message-carrier attached to the falcon's leg. She nodded again, and it flew off into the dark sky.

_He would kill no one else tonight,_ she vowed.

**_Author's Note:_** Well, there's the first chapter. Please review, if you would be so kind. 


	3. Encounter

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**Thanks for all your sweet reviews, I loved them all. Here's the second chapter, wherein Asuka makes her way back to the temple that is her home, and meets a rebellious young man along the way. Also, the huntress and the prince come face to face, not for the first time.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Chapter 2… Encounter**_

She watched enviously as a carriage pulled by four magnificent horses sped past her on the dirt road. Asuka didn't really enjoy walking all the way home, which was about a week's walk away. Her father, though, ever the anti-materialist, never asked for a carriage, not even a single horse. All the monks he trained at the temple were also taught the same way.

She yawned as she continued on her journey, the only thought on her mind the beautiful Temple of Wisdom where her father taught, fought, and lived. It was daybreak, and she had already started on her way. A glance backward showed that she was still only a stone's throw from the Cirith Academy.

Dawn seemed to most too early a time to wake up and leave, but Asuka didn't want to have anything to do with emotional goodbyes to the other students, who hadn't paid much attention to her during the seven years she was there.

There was another reason she so looked forward to coming home: meeting her friends, the monks back in the temple whom she considered part of her family. She grinned as she thought of her goofy childhood friend, Forrest, the son of one of the senior monks. She couldn't wait to tell him all about her misadventures at the academy. Sure, he was several years older than her, but his playful grin and his mischievous antics with Paul, a friend of his father's, made him seem a lot more immature than she was.

At the moment, she felt ready. Ready for a real adventure.

She knew that everything she'd done, everything she'd accomplished – her studies, her fighting skills – they were all leading up to the very next chapter of her life. She couldn't wait for the page to come, couldn't wait to see what would happen to her next.

Asuka walked neither hurriedly nor leisurely – her pace was measured, as was the pace of one used to traveling. She wanted to get home as soon as she could. Her father would no doubt be wanting to see her home safe.

* * *

Jin stopped in his tracks. There was a new sound added to the unusually silent orchestra of the night. He knew it well, and yet he was anxious. It was the rustling of the leaves. 

No one usually noticed such things, and of course there was nothing wrong with the sound of the leaves being blown by the wind.

Except that night was still – there was no wind.

He turned, his sword unsheathed quickly and the ring of steel pierced the unnerving silence of the evening. He raised it in a defensive position, his eyes darting from one bush to another.

That was when he felt the searing, burning pain on his shoulder.

It was an arrow – so sharp he didn't feel it penetrate his armor and gash the back of his shoulder, and so quick he didn't hear it until it was too late.

In the pain, his weapon fell from his hands and to the ground. He only vaguely noticed that someone kicked it three feet away from his grasp.

The moonlight coming in through the shafts between the trees shed light on his attacker, or at least on the weapons she was holding to his throat. They were a pair of short, metal rods with each end tipped in bronze. They weren't usually the type of weapons used by his grandfather's cronies, because the assassins the Emperor trained preferred that which could do the most damage.

"Tell me who you are, and why you are here, and I will not kill you," she said softly.

He hadn't looked up to her face, afraid that he would and recognize her as one of the assassins he had watched train back at the Arinthea Palace. If she was one of them, she wouldn't keep her end of the bargain.

"What…" he slurred, "What'd you put in the arrow?"

He heard her smirk. "Very observant. All my arrows are equipped with a constructed magic that dulls the senses and numbs the whole body. It'll wear off in a day or so. Now, tell me what I want to hear."

"Jin… and I am running away," he struggled to get words out. What she said about the constructed magic was true – he couldn't feel anything, and thinking was becoming harder by the second.

She must have jerked him closer, because for some reason he was now on his knees. He was only slightly aware that the moonbeam that had settled on her weapons a while ago now shone on his face. "It can't be," she murmured.

She let go of him, and he was thankful to be able to fall to the ground. It was relief from the knowledge that he could do nothing – and that knowledge wanted so much to give way to sleep.

"You're the exiled prince – running away from the Emperor, am I right?" she said ironically. Her voice seemed distant.

Before he could answer her question, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

He stood quietly by the doorway, not wanting to alert her of his presence. Usually she was so quick to notice him, but that time, she was deep in her training. 

Kazuya watched as the woman expertly handled her dagger, combining her strict discipline with moves of her own. He watched with interest as she threw it up in the air, caught it as it landed and thrust it into the unseen enemy. With that, she tucked it back in its scabbard.

"It is no wonder why they call you the Silent Assassin," he said finally.

She didn't turn to look at him, but she knew that a smirk was gracing that icily perfect face. "What do you want, Prince?" the last word was said with so much venom that he marveled the fact that he didn't flinch at all.

Here in the marble walls of the Gleis Capital he had spent his days after his father banished him from Arinthea. He found it ironic, in fact, that Gleis used to be Arinthea's vassal before the separation fifty years ago, during the reign of Emperor Jinpachi. The Kingdom welcomed him, and took care of them as it would have their own prince, had their whole monarchial line not had died by the hands of Heihachi himself. He promised them their revenge, the same time he would have his.

"Would you be interested in helping me with something, then?"

She laughed, and finally turned to look at him. Slowly, in an unintentionally seductive way, she walked towards him. There was a glint in her ice blue eyes as she leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "If you wanted a whore, dear prince, you had better go ask my sister."

"I had a completely different plan for you, Nina," he said seriously, "How would you like to be instrumental in getting revenge for the Gleis Kingdom?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I have neither time nor interest in playing the heroine."

"Would you not relish killing the Emperor?"

"For a price."

He sighed as he took from his belt the pouch heavy with gold coins. He put it gently on her outstretched hand, and she smiled. "Glad we could do business, Prince."

* * *

Hwoarang crept out from behind the bushes, careful not to catch the notice of the young woman who was about to walk by. She looked tired and weary, and there was no question in that. He'd been watching her for quite a while, and though it was close to midnight she had not stopped. 

As if able to read his thoughts, her pace slowed until she finally stopped and sat down by the roadside to catch her breath. She even took from her pack a roll of bread, and broke off one end of it. She ate the piece, and returned the rest of it to her bag.

He watched as she continued to walk towards the slightly forested area, perhaps to make camp. He followed her, quietly as ever. If he was right, he could corner her where she would rest and question her.

Born in the neighboring country Altaia, he and his master had come to Arinthea to test his magic. Unfortunately for him, he quickly got into trouble with the Altaian government and now wandered the forests of this new country. He'd been there for three years already, and found a rival in the banished prince Jin.

That was why he was tailing the young woman – with any luck, she was an agent of Heihachi's Empire, sent to hunt him out. If she was, he would force the answer out of her.

If she wasn't… he would be indebted to her. If he had wrongly mistaken her for an assassin, he would have to accompany her to where she was to go. It sounded to him very unfair, but it was the code of honor that he and other wizards like him had sworn when they began practicing the craft. Should he go back on the oath now, a blood price would have to be paid – with his blood. All of it.

He shuddered.

Hwoarang mustered enough magic, balling it up at the tip of his iron staff. He found her again, sitting before a small fire, her back turned to him.

It was the perfect opportunity.

He let free his magic, and a white-hot fire erupted from the staff and whistled into the air, catching the girl in its spell. She was jolted with the sudden pain, but the spell was not primarily intended to hurt her, just to bind her – and bind her it did. The white flames danced around her as chains would around a prisoner.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" she spat.

It struck him immediately that he was wrong. The girl was fairly young, and he knew assassins hadn't mastered their rigorous training at such a young age.

"I should be asking you the same questions," he answered, trying to keep calm.

She glared at him. "To answer the second, then, I don't want to have anything to do with you!"

"I wouldn't want to have anything to do with you, either," he breathed, "But if you answer all my questions I won't hurt you."

The girl tried to wriggle free.

"That won't work. I'm the only one who can break it. Tell me, who are you?"

She shook her head stubbornly.

Quick as a thought the flaming rings tightened.

"I don't want to have to do this. Tell me your name and why you travel this road, and I'll set you free."

"I don't believe you!" she screamed.

Hwoarang exasperatedly ran a hand through his red hair. This wasn't going to be easy. "Wizard's honor."

"You have no honor! You attacked me from behind!" she yelled, and the rings tightened once more, taking the breath out of her. It was anguish, he knew – he had been trapped in the rings before. "My name is Asuka and I am a scholar of Cirith Academy, now let me go you bastard!"

The rings disappeared as he commanded them to. She crumpled to the ground, moaning in pain.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I mistook you for an agent of the Empire."

Hwoarang helped her get to her feet, but her glare was still in place. He went on. "If you'll let me, I will help you until you finish your journey."

"You just tried to kill me, and you think it'll be that easy to win my trust?" she said breathlessly.

He grit his teeth. "Whether you will let me or not, I will come with you."

Before she could protest, everything went black.

**_Author's Note: _**Yikes, looks like Hwoarang and Asuka got off to a really, really bad start. Will things get better when he is forced to travel with her? Please review!


	4. Trapped in a Dream

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**Chapter 3 is here, and both Asuka and Jin wake up to see the people they least expected… and new characters are introduced. read and review.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Chapter 3… Trapped in a Dream**_

"My sister is gone." It was a guess, really, a gut feeling. Still, she awoke with those words on her lips.

Lee grumbled when Anna sat up on the satin-sheeted bed. "I thought you didn't care about your sister. Just last night you called her a murderous bitch."

She reached for her robe and slipped it on, smiling just a little at his comment. "Go back to sleep. I won't be long."

"I'll hold you to that," he said sleepily, before finally falling into silence, and perhaps, sleep.

Anna lived in the Gleis Capital, the country that had not a ruler to its name. The whole kingdom was run by a council of which she was part. She was, after all, one of the reasons Gleis still survived. If not for her power of foresight the whole country would have completely knelt before the power of the almighty Emperor Heihachi.

She was a seer – she could look into the future and back into the past.

Her sister, on the other hand, never liked to be involved in matters of politics. She was the head of the Gleis Home Guard, and a quick and efficient assassin.

How she hated Nina.

It all started as a petty rivalry when they were children, and had now evolved into something much more – a fierce, burning hatred for each other. Still, the two tried to get along, if only for the reason that they both protected the Gleis Kingdom and their feud would likely end the hard-earned peace they had fought for.

She slipped out of the room, careful not to wake any of the other councilors. It was late into the night and they would all be asleep.

Deep in the Gleis Capital was a secret chamber which held the Looking Glass – a mirror laced with magic especially made to invoke visions when they did not come. She entered the trap door and went down the stairs, making sure to count the steps so as not to fall through the eighth, which was termite-infested and close to destruction.

She found the mirror, and ran her hand over its smooth surface. Gingerly, she took the small red jewel she wore on a bracelet on her wrist, and put it up on the empty space in the frame. The Looking Glass lit up the whole room.

"Show me my sister," she whispered to it.

On the silvery-blue surface shapes began to form. It was a smoky image of her sister, Nina, dressed in her blue-violet body suit, the one she usually wore on a mission. But she knew nothing of any mission – why would her sister leave?

Beside her appeared another figure – one she knew well. It was Lee's half-brother, another banished prince of Arinthea. Kazuya.

"So Nina has foolishly chosen to side with the Devil," she murmured. "So be it."

* * *

Jin awoke to the smell of hot herb tea, reminiscent of the days he had spent with his mother deep in the forests of Arinthea, when his Grandfather and the demon inside him were still far from thought. 

"You're awake," someone said softly. He turned to look, and saw that it was a young woman. Somehow she looked vaguely familiar to him – her dark brown hair kept tidily in two long braids, her honey colored eyes and her sun-kissed skin struck a note in his memory.

She sat down beside him, and he tried to sit up, but couldn't. He put his hand gently to his bare chest, and noticed that one shoulder was bandaged. The events of last night crossed his mind, and decided it would be best to lie back down.

"I'm sorry about what happened last night. I thought… I thought you came this far to kill me… and my mother. I'm very sorry," she whispered as she took the pot of tea from its place on the table beside the bed he lay on. She poured out a cup of it for him, and put it back on the table.

She reached out and wordlessly helped him lean against the headboard. It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, and he thanked her. She smiled a little, and gave him the teacup full of hot, steaming herb tea.

"I understand. I know the feeling of wanting to protect your mother," he said quietly.

She didn't ask – she knew the story. Everyone did. Historians had added it to the more recent books of Arinthean history.

When she didn't say anything, he looked around the small, one-room hut. It had a bed, the one on which he lay, and a hearth where a pot of something hung over the fire. By the fireplace were a table and two chairs.

"Is this your house?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I know you're being hunted. To bring you to my mother would be leading the assassins to her, and I don't want to jeopardize her safety. This is where I stay when I'm on the road."

He was quiet for a while, and muttered, "Thank you, then… Julia?"

She smiled sadly.

* * *

Xiaoyu flew high above the treetops, her almond-shaped brown eyes searching, watching. Her translucent pink fairy wings fluttered as she did, and she grinned. The wind was in her dark hair, tied up in either side of her head. She loved the feeling of flight; it always made her feel so free. 

But she would trade all the freedom in the world for the knowledge that her friend was still alive. Her friend, the prince, Jin.

Since he was still a child, living with his mother in the woods, up until the time he finished his schooling at the Cirith Academy, she had known him. She was a fairy child, and was known to wander. She met him back then when he was little, and had befriended him.

When he became older, though, he became distant, and had brushed her off as a part of his past, a part of the life he had so wanted to turn his back on.

All she wanted was to stay his friend.

_I'm going to find him, _she vowed.

* * *

"Hey, wake up. It's hours past dawn… do you always get up this late?" 

Asuka brushed the sleep from her eyes, wondering when she'd gotten home so that her pal Forrest could pester her about sleeping in again… when she opened her eyes.

"Aahh!"

The redheaded young man shut his ears to block out her ear-piercing scream. She shifted back up, leaning against a tree. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes again. "Okay. This isn't happening. I hit my head, and I'm still asleep. This isn't happening. Dear spirits, tell me I'm not stuck here with the idiot who tried to kill me last night!"

"I did not try to kill you!" he groaned. "How many times do I have to say that?"

She glared at him. "A million times should cover it, I think."

"No reason to snap," he replied as he turned to the small fire he'd made. A clay pot was on it, and inside it some rice was cooking. When he made sure it was done, he passed the pot to her and put out the fire. "Eat some breakfast. You'll need your strength."

"I'm not eating that. It's poisoned."

He rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to kill you I would've done it last night, when you were vulnerable."

"Then why are you still here?" she asked, still not touching the pot of steaming rice.

"Because the wizards' code of honor demands that I help you for mistakenly using magic on you, or I would die," he answered simply.

Asuka grinned. "Then why are you still here?" she repeated.

"I'm a coward. I'd choose slavery over life."

"So you're my slave now?" she said, her grin widening.

"No!" he protested, "I didn't mean it that way. I mean…" his eyes fell on the full pot of rice, and it gave him a reason to change the subject. He picked it up. "Fine, if you won't eat, that means more for me."

Hwoarang spooned the rice into his mouth, while in a stubborn reply Asuka pulled out some bread and ate it. When he was done, he tucked the pot and his spoon back into his rather large pack, and stood. "Well, let's go."

"You're not coming with me!" she said defiantly. "You're staying here to die."

"What a tempting offer," he replied with no less venom.

She sighed. "All right, you can come. But when I reach home, you'll leave, right?"

"I won't have a reason to stick around anymore."

"… What does that make you, then? A slave?" she said as she pulled her pack up to her shoulders.

He winced. "I really wish you wouldn't say that."

"Let's go, then. Dad's not going to come get me here."

* * *

Steve entered the tavern, his muscles tired. He'd been spending the day at the arena, and he'd gotten into a fight. Luckily, he won the match and was able to slip away without any wounds. He was inexplicably good at skirting certain death. 

He was a gladiator – he earned his keep by doing that.

The room was dimly lit, and the air was dank. The smell of sweat and alcohol mixed to create a nauseating scent. He didn't often come to this tavern, but it was the closest to the arena and he didn't really feel like walking all the way to where he usually drank. Every tavern was the same, anyway.

He reached the bar, which was flanked by several big, burly men. He signaled to the bartender to give him a drink, and he leaned back against his seat.

Farther into the bar was a stage, where several young women danced. Their dances were innocent, it seemed, but the all-male audience still gave their undivided attention.

_I can see why, _he thought to himself as he got his drink and walked closer to the stage. The dancer who now took center stage was elegant, graceful, and… beautiful.

In the dim, orange light he could only vaguely make out her features. She had skin bronzed by the sun, long, reddish-brown hair, and beautiful eyes full of life and vibrancy.

_I could get used to this place, _he thought as he downed the last of the ale.

* * *

Dressed all in black, the man seemed to meld into the shadows of the night. Perhaps that was his intention, as he was meant to be a mystery – a spy for the Cyning Republic. There he stood, on the hill overlooking the age-old temple. 

The Emperor of Arinthea, Heihachi, had entered not an hour ago. His mission was to look into the goings-on in Arinthea, and send all his information back to the Republic. But regardless of his mission, he was genuinely curious as to what the Emperor was seeking in the ruins.

But strange happenings in Arinthea were to be expected. When Prince Kazuya was still a child, his father threw him off a cliff, and the boy sold his soul to save his life and destroy his father's. When Kazuya's son by a priestess, Jin, returned to the Palace, Heihachi had raised him with all the love to be expected from a grandfather. When he turned twenty, his beloved grandfather had turned on him, and attempted to kill him. The son of both the devil and the angel, the prince spared his life, and disappeared.

Raven, being a spy, knew many things none were supposed to know.

He knew, for example, that the banished Prince Kazuya was heading towards the ruined temple at that moment, along with a hired assassin, to once and for all destroy Emperor Heihachi.

A small smile crept onto Raven's face.

_This ought to be interesting._

**_Author's Note: _**Done and done! How'd you like this chapter? I know parts of it were… rather random, but I hope you'll still review and honestly tell me what you think about it. Thank you!


	5. Desires of the Heart

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**Here's chapter 4… where the intro of T5 is linked. I think you might see the connection… read on.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Chapter 4… Desires of the Heart**_

The Emperor Heihachi made a fatal mistake that night – he took his eyes off his son.

It was a still evening, and he had entered the Temple to pay homage to the Creator. As the Emperor of Arinthea, it was a once-a-year obligation that he had taken to doing. His heart and his mind were elsewhere, but he knew his every move was being monitored not only by his people but by spies of the Rival Empires – Cyning Republic, Gleis Kingdom and the land of Zhonggua.

He bowed deeply before the golden idol representing the Creator: it was a man, with his arms stretched out, and beams of light came from his fingertips. Magic glimmered on the beams, showing that the century-old statue was made of more than metal.

The priests circled the idol as he sat down before it. Not only was the Temple a shrine to the almighty Creator, it was a resting place of all the Emperors before Heihachi. His mind wandered from the solemn ceremony and remembered the ancient warning his grandfather had told him once: that if ever the Temple was desecrated by forces unknown to the Emperor, it will bring upon the world the wrath of not one, but two, Emperors thirsty for their throne.

He stifled a snicker at the ridiculous story. Instead he sat there before the idol with his eyes closed, reaching out for that peace that so often eluded him…

And then he heard the cry.

He'd heard it thrice before, and knew that there was no mistaking it. The first time, it was when he had thrown his son, Kazuya, off a cliff. The second was around twenty years before, when he threw him into a volcano. The third was when they met just a year ago.

He knew the Devil had returned.

He dared to open his eyes, and saw that his priests had stopped chanting, stopped praying, and had gone to bar the door. Heihachi shook his head knowingly. If he was right, then not even the greatest warriors could keep the Devil from entering the sanctum.

The Emperor Heihachi went into his defensive stance, in preparation of what was to come.

* * *

"Where will you go from here?" 

The question took Jin by surprise. He hadn't expected Julia to speak to him – or even be there with him – after he had fully recuperated from the effects of her arrow. In fact, he thought that her unwavering hospitality the day before had just been an apology for mistakenly attacking him the night before last.

He looked up at her, and saw that the candlelight added to her skin and eyes a soft, radiant glow. Her smile was nothing but sincerity and honesty. Her figure was slender, and close to flawless… if not for her bandaged arm. Blood seeped slightly from the linen strips, but she didn't seem at all pained – as if she was trying to carry the whole world on her shoulders, too proud to admit the weight was too much.

… She was so different from his mother, but so strangely like her, too.

"I do not know," he said, averting his eyes, "I'm just running – just hiding."

She nodded. "I understand that. But you can't run forever."

"I know… but now is not the best time to act. You see, these weeks lead up to the Harvest Festival, one of Arinthea's more important annuals. Merchants even from the far reaches of the Empire will bring their goods to the Capital, and by the Palace a fair will be erected. The Elite Guard will tighten its defenses, as the borders will be unguarded all that week while the festival goes on," he explained.

Julia thought for a moment. "Then why are the borders unguarded? Wouldn't it be easier to fend off spies and such at the edges of the Empire?"

"Heihachi always relished intercepting spies himself, and that week is most likely to be watched. He wants them to get as close as possible, so he can kill them on his own and proclaim himself a hero to all of Arinthea… again," he replied.

She nodded. "It sure sounds like him."

He was silent for a moment, and looked her in the eye. "When did this happen?" he asked quietly, gripping her bandaged arm.

She didn't reply, and he tightened his grasp, making her cringe just a little. The linen became redder, bloodier. It was just as he thought – the gash was new, the blood fresh. Dangerously, his eyes met hers. "There was someone looking for me, wasn't there."

It was blunt, more like a statement seeking confirmation than a query seeking an answer. She sighed, and mumbled something that sounded strangely like "I knew I couldn't keep anything from him." She put a hand to his, the one touching her arm. He released her grudgingly.

"Yes," she answered finally, "A pair of assassins from the Arinthea Palace. They had the lightning sigil. You were asleep, so I finished them off myself. I buried them where you buried the first."

He stood. "You didn't have to do that. You could've woken me."

"You were still asleep by the effects of the arrow. You wouldn't have been in any condition to fight. Don't delude yourself, Jin."

He glared at her, sat back down, and mumbled, "Thank you."

* * *

Nina stood back, not the least bit frightened at the red-eyed, blue-violet creature that threatened to break down the two-ton metal doors. From the waist down the being was covered in scales, and fearsome wings protruded from his back. A pair of horns was visible from his spiky hair. His back was turned to her, too busy trying to destroy the door, but she knew on his chest was the sigil of evil, drawn in blood. 

She had seen him like this before. What reason was there to be frightened?

_It was several years ago, before she and her sister Anna were encased in a magical sleep. She remembered seeing those dark, mysterious eyes become red and spiteful. In a menacing cry not only his eyes but his whole self turned over to the dark. That which was once pristinely good became the epitome of evil._

_Just like in the prophecy._

_She knew then that he would be a powerful ally._

And here she was, siding with him – the purpose to kill his wicked father and seize the throne of Arinthea, and then once more unify Arinthea Empire and Gleis Kingdom. A heroic act, and she was playing the sidekick – who would've known?

She unsheathed her dagger, knowing that soon the door would open. She would have a serious fight on her hands – the first in a long while.

She smiled with the anticipation of death.

* * *

Xiaoyu flitted gracefully to the treetop. It was late, and she was tired. She needed rest more than anything, and so she curled up in a ball on the boughs of a tree and tried to fall asleep. 

… Why couldn't she sleep? There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that told her something dangerous was going to happen.

_I know, _she thought with a grin, _I'll just think about the Rubrics. That always puts me to sleep. _

The Rubrics was an ancient list of rules and restrictions that bound not only people but fairies and other creatures that walked the earth. Though fairies were native to the ancient, magical land of Zhonggua, she left for a new life in Arinthea. It was there that she met her "grandfather", Wang Jinrey, an old priest who took her in. He showed her the Rubrics, and taught her everything he knew.

_A fairy with shackled wings has lost its magic, _she thought with a long yawn, _Bound to the shackler, for only he can release it from its suffering. With the passing of seventy moons a shackled fairy will perish of thirst for magic…_

She yawned again, her lips curling into a smile. _Works every time, the good old Rubrics. _She closed her eyes and this time drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The Temple of Wisdom was known for being a place of peace. Its High Priest was kind and gentle, and taught all his monks his ancient arts of fighting. The shrine itself was quiet, and the smell of incense wafted in the air. The trees, as old as the Temple itself, whispered to themselves; to human ears they sounded like mere rustling of leaves. 

But that night, the Temple's peace was broken.

It stormed, rained, thundered. The vicious winds brought with them rain, and lightning and thunder divided the sky. But the sky was not the only one to clamor for lost silence.

In the Temple courtyard, a fierce battle had begun.

The High Priest appeared no more than a broken old man, but all the onlookers knew him to be much stronger than the normal man. His enemy, though, was one of his students – one who knew all the secrets of his fighting style. He knew what to expect from his opponent, and it was this that sent a chill through the old man's spine.

Feng Wei had been a promising student, in fact one of the best – but he had betrayed his master. He wanted more, more than the man could give; and that was the reason for this fight.

Marshall stood by, noticing the great crackle of energy surrounding the two men. It was pouring, but they seemed unaffected as they took their stances and faced each other. It was almost as if there was a protective field around them…

He had been absently staring at the two combatants, and didn't notice that his son, Forrest, ran from his side and lunged at the two fighters.

"Forrest, don't!" he called out.

It was too late. Forrest hit the yellow lightning-shield with full force, only to be thrown back far away from them. Many priests went to see to him, including his father, Marshall.

But the real battle had not yet begun.

The High Priest struck first, giving Feng a kick to the midsection, and following it up with a takedown. Immediately the younger man stood, delivering a flurry of punches to the breathless old man. He had been training his students all day, and had not been in any condition to fight. Luckily for Feng, he was.

The last punch sent the man to his knees, gasping for breath. Relentlessly, he stood up again and landed a high roundhouse kick that hit his opponent's head, and a low kick that knocked him off his feet. He parried the low kick Feng gave him as he rose.

Then he made his mistake.

He backed into the protective field, an attempt to buy time and recall his stratagems. The crackle of electricity that had been poured into the shield transferred to him, paralyzing him and destroying the shield once and for all.

The High Priest gasped for air, tried to move. _Why couldn't I move? _He thought, tears welling up in his eyes. Should he lose this battle, would he ever see his daughter again? _Asuka, dear Asuka, my precious little girl…_

"You notice the effects of the shield," said Feng venomously, "When you touched it, you took in all the electricity encased within it. Too much, in fact, that you are now immobilized. For the time being, that is. Unfortunately you will not be able to recover in time."

Feng pointed to the onlookers, who also looked frozen in place. "They, too, felt the effects of the shield because they are bonded to you. Spirit-linked, I believe. How ironic that they cannot save you, when the very reason for the spirit link is to save each other's life."

The man did not move, no matter how much he wanted to.

The monk Feng Wei mustered all his strength, called upon all his power to his fist. With a blast of power, he released his fist… and sent the old man through a great oak tree. The oak, as old as the man, perhaps older. _How rightly that both symbols of wisdom in this place would die by my hand, _he thought as he stood.

He turned his back on the Temple of Wisdom, never to return again.

* * *

_Elite Guard, they're called, _Nina thought as she plunged her dagger into another of Heihachi's soldiers. _The new recruits of the Gleis Home Guard are better challenges than these idiots._

She allowed herself to glance for a split-second at the rest of the room. Bloodied corpses were strewn across the room. Incense and the sickly sweet smell of death combined to make an ironic stench. She took down the last of the Elite Guard in the room.

Her eyes searched for Kazuya.

He had returned to human form, and stood in front of his father. Father and son, soon to be involved in an epic battle to decide once and for all whether good or evil should reign in the world.

_Who's the good one? _She thought wryly as she approached.

Kazuya lifted his hand to her, to stop her from coming. "Nina, go. This battle is between me and my father. You are not concerned here."

Slowly, almost grudgingly, she backed away, and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Hwoarang sat beside Asuka, who lay atop her makeshift pillow and tried to fall asleep. Casually he asked, "Ever heard of keeping watch?" 

"No need," she mumbled, not opening her eyes.

"What do you mean, there's no need? There are dangerous things in the forest, didn't you know? And we're right beside the road. If we don't get eaten, we're going to be robbed by bandits by your carelessness," he told her.

This time she opened her eyes. "Don't you know where we are, Hwoarang?"

"We're in a clearing between a road and a forest. A potentially dangerous place to just fall asleep," he said matter-of-factly.

She sat up. "This forest is man-made. All the trees here were planted years ago, in the Emperor Jinpachi's last Harvest Festival. They're magical in the sense that no land animal can dwell between them. The only creatures in this forest are birds."

"Well then," said Hwoarang, refusing to be defeated, "What about bandits?"

"Bandits? We're on the main road! It is a straight path between the Shrine of the Creator and the Arinthea Palace, two of the most important places in the land. The road, too, is infused with magic to protect travelers."

He leaned back against a tree. "Know-it-all," he mumbled under his breath.

"I prefer 'scholar' to 'know-it-all', but you can call me that if you want," she snapped as she lay back against her pack. "Good night, Hwoarang."

He sighed. "Good night, know-it-all."

* * *

Kazuya's raptor gaze never left his father. His father, so evil, so hateful… so mangled beyond recognition. He knew that the old man saw him the same way: a disfigured version of the human soul. 

The Devil.

The thought angered him, and he drew his arm back to punch him.

Then, the Jacks came.

Kazuya had seen them before. In the Gleis Kingdom cells, they were an experiment, to form an unstoppable army of magically-created beings. But who could have sent them into action?

The first two people to enter his mind were his adoptive brother, Lee, and his whore, Anna.

He clenched his fist as he rounded on the Jacks, his quest for vengeance on his father momentarily postponed. They surrounded both father and son, and for a while they worked together to defeat them.

Such cooperation cannot last long.

_There are too many of them, _he thought, panicking. _The whole army of Jacks must've been sent to destroy us!_

Armed with no more than a desperate thought, he grabbed Heihachi by the scruff of the neck and threw him into the swarm of Jacks.

And then he walked away, a grin on his face.

* * *

On that hill overlooking the Temple, Raven's gaze never wavered, never flickered even when the whole building exploded before his eyes. He had been watching, and knew that both Prince Kazuya and the assassin he had hired were far from danger. 

… He could not say the same for the Emperor. He had not escaped.

His finger tapped a little machine in his ear, one that allowed him to communicate all his findings to the Cyning Republic. He turned it on, now, and spoke.

"Heihachi Mishima… is dead."

**_Author's Note: _**Some parts were completely random, I know. But I had to at least get most of it out. Think you can spare a few minutes to review?


	6. Life Worth Saving

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**Chapter 5, you'll see more Hwoarang and Asuka moments… and Xiao gets in trouble (oh no!). Jin and Julia want to start another journey, while Heihachi is nowhere to be found. If that's so, who's leading the Harvest Festival? Read on…

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

* * *

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

_

* * *

**Chapter 5… Life Worth Saving**_

Lee looked out with displeasure on Arinthea, the great empire that his foster father, Emperor Heihachi, had brought to its full magnificence. He walked among the townspeople in a disguise weaved from the finest magic in Gleis Kingdom, and looked into their faces. In their eyes, he was only a friendly farmer newly come from the reaches of the country for the Harvest Festival, which was beginning that day.

A merchant hawking sugared slices of bread smiled and tipped his hat pleasantly to him, not knowing that in truth he was the banished prince of Arinthea, the traitor to his father and brother – or at least, it was what the Arinthean history records typecast him as. What he truly saw himself as… was a different story.

It was ironic that way, and irony made Lee smile.

Of course, that day was only the start, the preliminaries, so to speak, of the actual festival – which would take place in less than a month. Usually, the merchants had only begun to journey to the Arinthea Capital City, to stay and prepare their goods for the presentation after three weeks. The Emperor sent out notices to everyone a week before the first rounds begin.

But Kazuya and Nina had ventured to kill the Emperor a week ago, and he'd heard that his brother was successful in his mission – though the assassin was nowhere to be found.

If that was so, who was running the Harvest Festival?

It was a mystery that he had to solve.

* * *

"Toss me an apple, will you?" 

Asuka glared at him as she reached into her second pack to pull out a red, juicy apple. "Easy for you to say," she said as she threw it his way, "Thanks for making me carry a whole bushel. Ever heard of gentlemanliness?"

Hwoarang caught it with ease and took a big bite. "You mean cowardice. Sorry, Asuka, I don't play that game."

"Unfortunately," she breathed.

They walked for a while in silence, the only sounds their footfalls and his crunching bites on the apple. When he'd bitten it to the core, he held it in his palm. He held his staff a bit higher over his head, and said a few words. The apple core in his hand burst into flames, and burned brightly for a few moments before it turned to ash in his hand.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

"Know-it-all," he countered good-naturedly. "By the way, where are we going? I've been walking with you for what, a bit more than a week, and I still don't know where we're headed."

"That's because you've never asked," she answered.

"Aren't you going to tell me?"

She shrugged, and tilted her head in the direction of the bagful of apples. "Unless you decide to carry the apples, no, I won't."

He glared at her. "Then I'd rather not know."

"I can't believe that you keep saying you're bound to help me on the journey, but you won't even carry a bag of apples," Asuka said, a bit weary from her packs she had slung over her shoulders. "I'm thankful to know we'll be there at the end of the day."

He smiled. "Then I can wait. You don't have to make me carry the apples, after all."

"Of course not," she said through gritted teeth. Only the sight of the bluish-gray mountains in the distance calmed her anger.

* * *

Bryan watched at a short distance as the fairy cautiously clambered down from the tree that morning. She felt someone was watching her, and with good reason. He had been stalking her when she slept, staying up all night to fashion a magical chain that he could use to shackle her, if necessary. 

Whether by force or not, he would get her to do what he wanted.

He pulled out the chain from his belt – it used to be part of his ensemble, a rusty old chain around his waist, but now it would have a more important function. To capture the fairy and force her to do his bidding.

He jumped up from his hiding place in the shrubs, and stealthily walked towards her. Her back was turned from him, which made it all the more easier. He grinned maniacally.

A twig snapped from beneath him, and alerted him to her presence. She turned, looked in his eyes and the chain he held in his hands, and turned to run. Why she didn't fly, he wasn't sure – but perhaps it was only fear and instinct that drove her.

It was too late, anyway; she hadn't run very far when he was able tie the chain across her wings, and across her chest. "Caught you," he whispered, holding back the urge to laugh at his own triumph. The darned ninja was hunting him, and it wouldn't do well to laugh and let him know where he was.

The fairy herself reached only to his neck in height, and her clothes, fairy shoes and wings, which had now disappeared with the chain, were hot pink. A strange-looking fairy, but a fairy nonetheless. She would serve his purpose well enough.

He pulled her by the neck, and whispered in her ear: "You are bound to me now. I want you to kill…"

That was when he heard the familiar whizzing sound from the trees, and rolled out of the way, pushing his fairy away as well. The bizarre ninja, as well as the bright green sword, appeared, and cursed at the miss. "Run!" came the garbled cry to the fairy, who didn't need telling twice.

Bryan glared at his enemy and clenched his fists. This was going to be a serious battle.

* * *

The falcon gave a great call as it swooped from the sky. It perched on a branch outside a small hut, where Julia was waiting. She put her hand gently on the bird's head, and closed her eyes, summoning her innate powers of communicating with the earth's creatures. As she stroked the bird of prey's feathers, all that it had heard, learned and saw when it had gone to Arinthea returned to her, as if they were her own memories. 

When it had told her all it knew, she nodded to it, and it took off once again. The falcon had been sent a few days before, to monitor the Empire's doings, and had only just returned. What it had told her was troubling.

"Is something wrong?" Jin asked as he appeared in the doorway.

She turned to him and nodded once. "My falcon has told me that the Empire has not sent more assassins this way. The Prince Kazuya and an assassin ambushed the Emperor a little less than a week ago, and destroyed a certain Temple. Heihachi is nowhere to be found."

"And you are disturbed by this? I thought you would be glad that the man is finally dead." He asked remorselessly.

She shook her head. "I've also learned that the Harvest Festival began three days after the Emperor had fallen, and none of the Arinthean citizens seem to know about what had happened."

"You're wondering who started the Harvest Festival, as I am," Jin answered for her. Now, he too had that troubled look in his eyes. "It seems that your information contradicts itself. How can Heihachi be dead, and yet be leading the Harvest Festival ceremony?"

"I'm afraid the problem is more complex than you already think. No one has seen the Emperor Heihachi at all since the incident. During the beginning of the ceremony, doesn't he have to make an appearance to the people, in order to announce it? Though there is no need of such a proclamation, he loves presenting himself to the people."

Jin scowled. "You're right. He wouldn't miss any opportunity to publicize himself if he can. Perhaps…" his voice trailed off.

"What? What is it?" she asked insistently.

He looked her in the eye. "Perhaps someone has replaced him."

* * *

Frantically Xiaoyu ran away, away from the awful scene. The only words that came to mind as she did were, _After the passing of seventy moons, a shackled fairy will perish of thirst for magic… _

Tears stained her eyes. "I'm too young, far too young…" she whispered to herself as she went. She did not know where she was headed, only that she had to go somewhere far away, far away enough to forget, if just for a moment, that in a matter of two months she was going to die.

Soon, a small house came into view. "Help!" she cried as she ambled forward, dragging along the orange-red chain that glowed with magic, and each step she took wearied her even more…

And then, she collapsed to the ground, all her energy siphoned from her to the chain. A fairy without magic, without flight, alone in a world so cold…

* * *

_"Help!" _the girl had called out in a language familiar to him. She had fallen along the path, and Jin instinctively rushed to help her, Julia at his heels. They reached her side, and he scooped the frail girl in his arms. She looked so fragile, as if a careless motion would shatter her into a million pieces.

Her eyes, closed now, were slightly slanted upward, and her jet-black hair was tied up on either side of her head with pink ribbons. Her dress, ornately designed, was also a bright shade of pink. But what struck him the most was the magic-infused chain that circled her body as a sort of sash. What was it for, anyway?

"Prepare the bed, some water, and a bowl of hot soup," he told Julia, who nodded, "She's going to need our help."

The huntress went ahead of him almost grudgingly, breaking out into a run as she neared the house. He knew that she wanted nothing more than to find out who the impostor Emperor was, and to help the girl their journey would be delayed. In all the time he'd known her, he discovered that above everything else she hated hindrances that kept her from finding out what it was she wanted to know.

He propped the girl up safely as he carried her back to the little house. Something about her was nagging at the back of his mind, a reminder of a friend long lost…

He shook the thoughts out of his head when Julia motioned for him to hurry. He would figure everything out in time.

* * *

By sundown the bag of apples had become considerably lighter, as she and Hwoarang had finished half of what they'd brought on the way. She tossed him another apple core as she checked the bag again. "That's perfect. There are around fifty monks in the Temple of Wisdom, and we only bring back twenty apples," she grumbled. 

"Not my fault you eat so much," he answered with a grin as the last apple core ignited and soon disappeared. "You should've thought about them, and not yourself."

"Me? You ate three times more than I did," she groaned.

"Oh, Math. I'm so scared," he sneered.

She sighed, and slowed her pace. "You know what? This is pointless. We've been going at it for, what, a week? Why can't we just set our differences aside for the moment, and just try to be civil?" She held out her hand to him as a gesture of peace.

"All right then," he said reluctantly as he took her hand, "But it was so much more fun when we were fighting."

Asuka smiled and looked back out at the road. The green roofs of the Temple of Wisdom were visible and painted with a dark orange as the sun set. Pines and oaks surrounded the place, and once more came the familiar, welcomed silence. The silence she grew up with – not an awkward one that was now between her and the redheaded mage, but the loving, nurturing kind her father raised her with.

"Really nice place," Hwoarang said suddenly, "But it's a bit too quiet."

She grinned. "It's hard for the young and restless to appreciate silence, my father had told me. The monks there had grown used to peace and quiet. They speak only when there is need."

"I'd go crazy if they forced me to shut up that long," he mumbled.

"I can imagine."

They neared the gates of the Temple, remembering the rusty hinges of the wrought-iron door that her friend Forrest closed every dusk. As the memory came back to her, she heard them – the rusty hinges, the creaking of the locks. She smiled, and quickened her pace. From afar she saw a figure barring the door from the inside.

"Uncle Marshall!" she called out, recognizing the man.

He turned and greeted her back. "Asuka! The Temple has been missing you."

She approached him and gave him a big hug. "I missed the Temple, too."

Marshall looked warily at Hwoarang and tilted his head in the wizard's direction. "And who is this, Asuka? Don't tell me you plan to be wed right after you return from Cirith Academy."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Uncle. He's just a friend I met on the way," she explained, a blush creeping up onto her cheeks.

He nodded, and his voice turned grave. "Then bid him come in and stay for the night. I have much news to tell you."

**_Author's Note: _**And… this is where we stop! Sorry for the delay, I'm just glad I was able to write something. I know it's not any longer than the other chapters, and I know I promised a longer one, but I don't have time! I'm not even supposed to be writing, I'm supposed to be studying. Anyway, please review?


	7. Carrion Crows

**_Heaven Knows_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Author's Note: _**This is the sixth chapter, seventh if you count the prologue. Anyway, sorry again for making you wait. All my projects were piling up… and you know what happens. So, here's _Carrion Crows, _where Asuka receives the news about her father's near-death.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Tekken and I don't own "Heaven Knows," the song that inspired this. The first belongs to Namco and the second belongs to Orange and Lemons.

-----------

"_Cause this angel has flown away from me_

_Leaving me in drunken misery_

_I should have clipped her wings _

_And made her mine for all eternity…"_

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**_Chapter 6… Carrion Crows_**

The Temple seemed grave and solemn, even more than usual. The halls were strangely bare, and unnervingly quiet. The few priests they saw pass by walked with their heads down, and their gazes to the floor.

It was not quite as she remembered it. Though the cool balsa wood floors, the open paper-paneled windows and the sweet scent of the wood walls remained the same, something was ineffably different. It was as if the life had been taken from it, not just by the sunset, but by something much more painful.

Hwoarang, who stood beside Asuka, bent down to whisper to her, "I don't understand why you like this place so much. It's like a graveyard."

She scowled at him. She'd thought she would be rid of the hot-tempered redhead once she arrived at the Temple, but Marshall had mentioned something about him staying the night. To this, the renegade grinned and said, "Sounds great." When she glared at him, he only answered, "What? To a wanderer, anywhere we could come in from the rain to is a palace."

"How very… poetic of you," she'd answered dryly.

The sun was beginning to set, and the priests that roamed the halls had started to light the lanterns, shedding more light through the criss-crossing, winding pathways within the Temple. That was part of the reason why it was called the Temple of the Wise – only those who are serene, patient, and logical could figure out the maze. As for Asuka, she had traveled the halls for years since she was born, and memorized every turn, every subtle change in level.

Perhaps bored with the silence, Hwoarang spoke up. "I'm hungry. Do you guys eat in this place?" he said loudly, so that his voice ricocheted off the stern stone walls in a resounding "place –place – place – place?".

She elbowed him in the ribs at his rudeness. "No respect at all!" she murmured, so that her voice echoed only as a soft whisper in the darkened hallways.

However, instead of being angered as she had thought he would be, Marshall only chuckled. "Not to worry, my dear boy, there will be time enough for that later. At the moment, we have more serious matters to discuss. Or if you prefer, I can speak with Asuka while you can find your own way around the Temple. I believe you might be able to tell the difference between the kitchen and the gallery."

The man's tone was amused, even assuring. But Hwoarang took one look down the dismal, unlit corridor and shrugged. "No thanks. I think I'll stick around."

"A wise decision, young man," he replied with a slight smile.

They stopped in front of a door Asuka remembered to lead to the infirmary. Had someone been hurt? She bit her lip, but had no courage to ask. Marshall reached out to open the door, and Asuka gasped as she entered the room.

Lying on the first bed was her father.

"Father!" she cried. As if on instinct she ran to his side, lifted the covers to check his pulse, his heartbeat, and his breathing in a frantic rush. Yet she could find no wound, no bruise, not even a single battle-mark. It was either disease, or magic…

Marshall appeared beside her, and as if in response to her unspoken thought, he said quietly, "One of ours turned against us, and used his craft against your father… as well as on Forrest."

"Forrest, too? What is to happen to them, Uncle Marshall?" she asked, biting back tears.

The older man sighed. "I am afraid I cannot say. Our priests have tried everything to heal them and bring them out of this state, but none of their enchantments worked."

"Is there no cure?" she asked, on the brink of panic. "They cannot stay in sleep like this forever! There has got to be a cure!"

Marshall turned away. "There is only one known cure for such powerful magic. I believe you have heard of the herb called the Emperor's Tears?"

"But…" dumbfounded, Asuka asked, "I thought that the heal-all is a myth."

"It was, but I have been told that it truly exists. It grows only in the Imperial Palace garden, and it is guarded by a good number of the Elite Guard," he explained. "Books have ascertained that it cured generation after generation of diseased Emperors and made them live longer. Though we cannot trust every one of those authors, I think it is worth a try."

She stood up. "I will find it, then."

"No!" he said suddenly, so that Asuka was caught off-guard. "It is much too dangerous for someone as young as you. I will do it… to save both my son and your father."

She bowed respectfully. "Tell me, then, Uncle Marshall, who made them this way."

He froze, but knew he could not deny her revenge. "His name is Feng Wei."

-----------

Julia tried to mask her sigh as she folded up the damp cloth and lay it on the girl's forehead. The younger girl was burning with fever, and it would be perhaps a day or so before she could recover and be well enough to go on her way. Though the delay of the journey irritated her somewhat, she knew she could not turn her back on someone who needed her help.

But at the moment, the help she was giving wasn't amounting to much. The big, heavy chain that encumbered the girl was alarmingly hot and wouldn't move at her touch. As long as the chain was still around her, she guessed, the girl would not have a chance to get better.

"Jin," the voice was a whisper on Julia's lips, but she knew she didn't have to say it once more. He appeared at the door at the sound of his name.

He came to her side, and, in the same hushed tone, asked, "What is wrong? Have you found the cause of her illness?"

She nodded a little. "I think so, but whether she will get better or not will depend on your ability to destroy constructed magic."

"Constructed magic? But what…" his eyes fell on the chain. "Oh… I suppose I could try, but I have never dealt with something like this before. I might need to concentrate more."

Julia nodded and got up from where she was seated. "I'll need to look for some herbs for her medicine. Would you be able to figure it out by the time I come back?"

"Maybe," he answered, not at all annoyed by her high expectation. "We'll have to see."

She nodded again, almost to herself this time, and disappeared out the door.

The rush of the cool night air was welcome to her; in all her years she had never loved anything more than the earth, and adventure. Now, she was with both. She closed her eyes, called out for her falcon once more, and it returned. It had not told her anything of Arinthea, or unrest brought about by the disappearance of the Emperor. Apparently no one had noticed anything different.

The very reason why she wanted to find out herself.

Disappointedly, she released her falcon and it flew off into the sky, leaving only a single, solitary feather drifting down to earth.

-----------

Hwoarang lifted the bowl to his face, and sighed happily. "Haven't had a home-cooked meal in ages! I am so glad I decided to come along after all," he said, sounding almost proud of his decision to freeload from the Temple of the Wise. He parted his chopsticks and began to eat like a starved animal.

… _Well, like a starved person actually, _he corrected with a smug grin.

He looked across the table to Asuka, and his smile fell. The girl had not touched her food at all, and was looking absently into the blank wall behind him. He thought – and if it wasn't for the dim light, he could have been sure – that he saw a tear fall from her eyes.

_Asuka, crying? _Thinking he was hallucinating, he shrugged it off and finished his meal.

But when he reached out and effortlessly took her rice bowl from her, he stopped smiling. "Asuka, are you all right? Did you even notice that I just stole your food?"

She looked at him disinterestedly, and pushed herself up off her chair. "Take it. I'm not hungry."

"If you got any skinnier you'd die, so eat up," he said in an attempt to make her smile. He was worried now. What was going on in the girl's head?

She shook her head. "No thanks. I'll just… go to bed."

"Asuka!" he got up from his chair and headed her off at the door, blocking her path. "Asuka, tell me what's wrong. What's gotten into you?"

She glared at him. "What's gotten into me? My father and my best friend are unconscious, and they will be until I can find some way to help them!" she said, her voice angered. "You know what? Forget it. You don't understand, and you never will understand. You've never cared for anyone in your whole life!"

"That's not true!" he argued.

She tried to shove him away from the door, but he wouldn't move. "Just let me go! I'm not feeling well, just let me go!" she cried, frustrated.

She seemed almost like a little girl, crying to be let go, crying for her father, or even for a brother…

_"Let me go!"_

_A ten-year-old Hwoarang stopped in his tracks. That sounded almost like… _

_He turned to see the little red-haired girl try to push away the men that surrounded her. "Brother!" she called out to him, but her voice was drowned out by a loud, lascivious laughter. All the while, she screamed, "Let me go, just let me go! Brother, help me!" _

_And since his sister's death he was forever haunted by the thought that had he been strong enough, she would still be alive… _

"Did you hear me? Let me go!" Asuka yelled, and in his absent-mindedness she was able to push him away this time. She was surprised, but only for a second. She barreled out the door and into another room, and by the time he got there she had already locked the door.

Frustrated, he punched the wall with his fist, letting out a growl as he did. "I have cared for someone," he said, almost to himself.

-----------

Julia opened the door, careful not to let the herbs escape through the little hole in the pouch. She made a mental note to mend it later, but the rip in the pouch was pushed from her mind when she saw the scene.

The girl was lying on the bed, as she was when Julia had left. The exiled prince, though, lay on the floor, seemingly unconscious. His hands were swollen and bleeding. The chain was silver-gray, strewn almost carelessly on the floor.

And quickly she pulled out a second mat from under the bed and put it on the other side of the room. Pulling up Jin by his arms, she was able to half-carry, half-drag him to the mat. Her arms were sore, but it didn't really matter at the moment. What mattered was that he would be all right.

She ran over to the counter and pulled from a jar a few herbs and some linen cloth. She tied both his hands, carefully so that she could be assured that he would be fine when he woke up. The process was quick, but not careless. Maybe, she thought, she didn't want to lose him.

Maybe.

When she was finished, she stood up from her place on the floor and accidentally stepped on the chain. Cautiously, she touched two fingers to it, expecting the sudden heat but not feeling it. She sighed, relieved.

_He did it. _

She picked it up carefully and laid it on the table, vowing to see her mother some time and ask her to use her magic to see whose it was. At the moment, though, Jin stirred at her feet.

"Julia," he murmured her name.

She felt herself kneel beside him. "Shh," she said quietly, "You're all right. Go back to sleep. I'll take care of the both of you for now."

"I… did it, by the time… you got back, didn't I?" he said hoarsely.

She smiled sadly. "Yes," she whispered, "Yes, you did."

**_Author's Note: _**I know that it's a short, pointless chapter. No need to rub it in, but please review.


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